Port Charles was founded in 1750 by a multiracial teenager trekking through the woods. Her name was Wanda Benjamin Ryan. She and her fellow family members - who were all escaped slaves and evicted Amerindians from rival tribes - founded a suitable spot and stayed, even at the cost of a big American black bear attack, which explains why the original name of Port Charles was Black Bear Bay.
The Ryans were then joined by other families, many of whom are anti-slavery (but ironically pro-independence), such as certain members of the Springfields, the Wesleys and the Campbells.
As a well-befriended community, they had survived tornadoes and blizzards because - at their time - they were far away from Boston, New York or even Washington DC, combined into the busy BosWash area.
Wanda Ryan married the paternal grandson of Bavarian immigrants, Erick Springfield, in 1757, even though their relationship soured up so much by the time their youngest child and only son, Johannes Jebediah Springfield, was born in 1778. They then separated as their four daughters (Luca, Hani, Mina and Juno) left the house to make a fashion business before that.
Johannes Springfield was a sladdbarn, a fact that his mother shitted on, so he got abandoned by her and became alone as a seven year old. As he lived in the forest, he got picked up by a shy American black bear who lost her cubs and became feral as time went by. As a result, he got captured by Harold Shelbyville, but an unlikely relationship blossomed through time. At the same time, the Springfield Parents died.